Flag of Nebraska

What the Nebraska state flag looks like

The state flag of Nebraska is a field of national blue with a circular seal in the middle. The seal is drawn in gold and silver only, so the flag has just three colors.

The scene inside the circle includes:

• A blacksmith with a hammer and anvil in the foreground.
• A settler's cabin, sheaves of wheat and stalks of growing corn.
• A steamboat on the Missouri River.
• A train heading toward the Rocky Mountains, which appear in the distance.

A ribbon above reads Equality Before the Law, and the seal itself dates from 1867.

Nebraska flag meaning and symbolism

Each part of the seal represents a piece of Nebraska's economy and early history. The blacksmith stands for the mechanical arts and trade. The cabin, wheat and corn stand for farming, which is a central part of the state's economy. The steamboat on the Missouri River recalls river travel, and the train heading toward the Rocky Mountains stands for the railroads.

The motto Equality Before the Law is the state motto. The seal itself was adopted in 1867.

History of the Nebraska flag

The seal was formally adopted in 1867. The flag, which simply places the seal on a field of national blue, was adopted by the legislature in 1925. In 1963 it was formally designated the official state flag. Its design has not changed since.

As a seal-on-blue flag, Nebraska's design ranked 71st out of 72 in a 2001 survey of U.S. and Canadian flags by the North American Vexillological Association. Proposals to redesign it have not succeeded. See how it compares with Montana, which uses a similar format, or look at the full list of U.S. state flags.